A tathagata is often said to be "one
who has thus gone" (tathā-gata) or "one who has thus come" (tathā-āgata).
This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathagata is beyond all coming and
going.
A tathagata then is
one who goes (proceeds) in accord with reality (tatha [ta], that is comprehends
(gata) the way things are (tatha[ta]. Therefore he or she is fully awake and
sees the world as it is.
The Buddha is quoted on numerous occasions in
the Pali Canon as referring to himself as the Tathagata instead of using the
pronouns me, I or myself. This may be meant to emphasize by implication that
the teaching is uttered by one who has transcended the human condition, one
beyond the otherwise endless cycle of rebirth and death, i.e. beyond suffering.
At some point people will have to take the time to learn
about the concept of the cycle of rebirth and death and Buddha's four noble
truths to really get the gist of this.
Buddha was walking along the road after he woke up or what some people called his enlightenment and he encountered a man on the road. His demeanor was such that the man asked him who or what he was, since clearly there was something about the man that made him stand out from the rest of the people that this fellow had ever met. He asked him if he was a God or a diva and Buddha said no. He simply said I’m awake. Thus A tathagata.
Buddha was walking along the road after he woke up or what some people called his enlightenment and he encountered a man on the road. His demeanor was such that the man asked him who or what he was, since clearly there was something about the man that made him stand out from the rest of the people that this fellow had ever met. He asked him if he was a God or a diva and Buddha said no. He simply said I’m awake. Thus A tathagata.
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